Ablative Skin Resurfacing

More and more, light has become an integral part of medical treatments in recent years. There are now many kinds of devices that may deliver light for medical uses, including ultraviolet and laser light.

Laser technology has developed over the last few decades in the direction of treating patients with a variety of different skin problems, including the effects of sun damage, removal of body hair, and more recently, the treatment of psoriasis and acne.

Laser Skin Treatment

Since the early 90s, lasers are more and more becoming a high-tech form of deep chemical peel. Ablative skin resurfacing involves the use of ablative lasers to treat the skin. Laser skin treatment as well as laser skin resurfacing recovery tend to be quick and fast. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery noted that laser skin resurfacing was the 7th most common cosmetic treatment in the United States in 2007. There were nearly 510,000 treatments.

Lasers are high-energy beams of light that can be directed into certain areas or tissues within the skin. Lasers are produced in one wavelength or color at a time, and can vary in terms of their strength and the type of tissue that they can target.

Ablative Lasers

Ablative lasers are lasers used for skin resurfacing. Ablative skin resurfacing consists of brief, direct bursts of laser light onto the surface of the skin. The high-energy beam of light heats water within the surface layers of the skin, and causes both the water and the tissue of the skin to turn to vapor. Each time the laser passes over the skin, some of the outermost layers of the skin are removed in a precise and controlled way

Laser Skin Resurfacing Recovery

Afterward, the skin heals as new layers of collagen are produced. The skin literally resurfaces itself, and will result in a significant improvement in the appearance of sun damaged or acne-scarred skin. The skin will look healthier and younger post-treatment. Ablative skin resurfacing can also reduce the appearance of lines, wrinkles and irregular pigmentation in the face, neck and other parts of the body.

Unlike deep chemical peels, lasers can be used in sensitive areas, to treat lines around the lips, eyes and eyelids, for example. Lasers can also be used to treat larger surfaces, such as the entire surface of the face. Acne and other types of scars can be improved dramatically with ablative skin resurfacing, as can certain types of stretch mark.

There are two primary types of ablative laser. The original lasers used for ablative skin resurfacing were carbon dioxide lasers. Recently, however, erbium YAG laser systems have been introduced.

You can get pampered and receive light cosmetic treatments at a Medical Spa near you. Find one in our Medi-Spa Directory.